Skip bucket



Dec. 14, 1965 J. w. CLARK 1 3,223,266

SKIP BUCKET Filed June 1?, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l JAM S W. LARK ATTORNY Dec. 14, 1965 J. w. CLARK 3,223,266

SKIP BUCKET Filed June 1?, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ams W. CLARK A-rroauev United States Patent 3,223,266 SKIP BUCKET James W. Clark, Iron Mountain, Mich., assignor to Lake Shore, Inc., Iron Mountain, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed June 17, 1963, Ser. No. 288,166 Claims. (Cl. 214-707) This invention relates to skips of the bottom dump variety.

The principal object of this invention is to simplify the construction of bottom dump skips.

In the past, bottom dump skips have been provided with a bail in which the skip body was pivotally supported for swinging movement to the dump position. The wire rope was connected to the bail and the bail was provided with guide rollers above and below the body to run on the shaft guide timbers. Thus, the bail was more in the nature of a frame rather than a handle. The present design eliminates the bail and reduces the bottom dump skip to the essentialsthe body and the bottom door. This results in great material savings and a substantial reduction in the number of parts.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the skip in the position it occupies in transit;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the skip in the dump 0 position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the rope connection to the skip body;

FIG. 4 is a detail of the door pivot and seal;

FIG. 5 is a detail of the cam; and

FIG. 6 is a detail of the roller and cam from the front.

With the present design, the skip 10 is reduced to the bare essentials of a body 12 and a bottom door 14. Thimble 16 is pivotally mounted between plates 18, 18 to accommodate the wire rope 20 from which the body is suspended. When the bottom of the body swings out at the dump stage, it will necessarily pivot about the thimble axis. When the door 14 is closed, it slopes forwardly to close off the bottom opening of the Skip. The door is provided with pivot pins 22, 22, each of which can rotate in the square bushing 24 slidable in the rectangular slot 26 in hanger 28 fixed on the body sides at the lower rear corners. At each side there is a generally triangular framework 30 including side plates 32 which prevent side spillage when the door opens. Rotatable dump roller 34 is mounted on a shaft at the upper apex of this framework and a crank-like latch 36 also pivots on the shaft to disengage and engage latch pin 38, projecting from the body, as the latch roller 40 enters and leaves the dump track or guide 42 at the dump stage. Thus, going into the dump guide, the latch roller is first to be actuated at section A and then the dump roller is actuated to swing the body over bin 44 by making the door pivot move forwardly.

When the skip is in transit-hoisted or lowered in a mine shaft-it is guided by guide timbers 46 and this requires guidance at both ends of the skip. At the top of the skip each side is provided with a pair of vertically and horizontally spaced guide rollers 48, 50 which run on the front and back of the respective timbers. A third roller 52 runs on the inside of the timber. When the body tilts to dump, it tilts about the pivot of the thimble which requires an increase in horizontal spacing between the rollers. It will be seen that the vertical positions of the rollers are switched moving from transit to dump. Part way through the transition, the rollers lose their grip 3,223,266 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 partly, but the load will be on roller 48 so the skip is unaffected.

The lower end of the skip is guided by rollers 54, 56 (and the third roller 58) rotatably mounted on the skirts 59 depending from each side of the door 14. The vertical spacing between rollers 54 and 56 is greater to accommodate the greater differential motion by reason of the combined body swing and the movement of the door pivot relative to the timber. Here again, however, the rollers interchange relative positions going from transit to dump with slack developing in the process but with the load being against one roller.

It will be noted that with each set of guide rollers there is a wear plate 60 on the same side of the timber as and below the lower roller (48, 56) and above the upper roller (50, 54). As may be seen, in dump position these plates move away from the timber but in transit are in position to prevent undue strain on the guide rollers.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated the door is latched shut in transit so the skip cant spill open. The present skip is provided with an additional feature to snub the door closed very tightly to prevent or retard leakage when handling fine or Wet ore. This is provided by the cam 62 fixed on each side of the body adjacent the dump roller transit position. This operates as followsas the skip leaves the dump track, the dump roller is, in efiect, moved in an are about the door pivot which is now in its lowermost position. The inside extension of the dump roller encounters the outermost active surface of the cam and now wants to follow the active surface which does not run in an arc about the present pivot position but runs an increasing distance from that position. This necessitates lifting the doorthe rectangular slot 26 for pivot bushing 24 allowing thisup against the door opening which may be provided with rubber gasket 64 for sealing purposes. Finally, the roller will drop into saddle (depressed) portion B to give a detent or toggle effect to the action. This also means that during the initial swing towards the dump position the relative motion between the body and door will not open the door. This allows the skip to get further to wards the dump position before discharging and obviates spillage down the shaft. Further advantages are that there is a further positive action beyond that of the safety latch. Finally, and very important, it will be noted that this places the major weight of the doorand the material resting on the door-on the cam instead of the pivot or the lower guide rollers. The safety latch prevents the dump roller rolling out of the saddle.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A skip having a body, a door at the lower portion of the body, a pivotal connection between the door and the body, a pair of vertically and horizontally spaced rollers carried on each side of the upper portion of the body to engage guide timbers while allowing the lower portion of the body to swing outwardly, a pair of vertically and horizontally spaced rollers on each side of the door to engage the guide timbers and to allow the door to pivot when the lower portion of the body swings outwardly, means for opening the door for dumping and for holding the door closed in transit.

2. A skip according to claim 1 including a roller car ried by the door, a cam surface on the body, said pivotal connection allowing restrained floating action of the pivot point, the cam surface requiring the door to move translationally into its closed position to draw the door tightly to the body when closed.

3. A skip including, a body member, a door member at the lower end of the body member, a pivot connection at the lower rear of the body member and including means permitting limited translational movement of the pivot, means for guiding the skip in transit, means for swinging the lower portion of the body member outwardly into a dump position, a roller on one of the members, a cam surface on the other member, the cam surface and roller forcing translational movement of the pivot in the final closing action of the door member whereby the door is moved bodily against the body member as opposed to purely rotational closure of the door member.

4. A skip according to claim 3 in which the pivot occupies one limit position during a major portion of the opening movement of the door member and the active cam surface follows an increasing radius measured from the pivot when in said limit position whereby the pivot is forced to move translationally in the final closing action.

5. A skip according to claim 4 in which the roller is on 4. the door member and the cam surface is on the body, the means for swinging the lower portion of the body member comprising a roller on the door member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,720,388 7/1929 Alexander 294-69 2,424,620 7/ 1947 Korn 214741 2,479,449 8/ 1949 Woodward et al 214741 2,545,170 3/1951 Saunders 214741 2,649,983 8/1953 Finley et al. 214-741 X 2,790,569 4/ 1957 Leonard 214-741 3,052,367 9/1962 Clark 214-741 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,906 4/1931 France. 855,036 11/1960 Great Britain.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

MORRIS TEMIN, Examiner. 

3. A SKIP INCLUDING, A BODY MEMBER, A DOOR MEMBER AT THE LOWER END OF THE BODY MEMBER, A PIVOT CONNECTION AT THE LOWER REAR OF THE BODY MEMBER AND INCLUDING MEANS PERMITTING LIMITED TRANSLATIONAL MOVEMENT OF THE PIVOT, MEANS FOR GUIDING THE SKIP IN TRANSIT, MEANS FOR SWINGING THE LOWER PORTION OF THE BODY MEMBER OUTWARDLY INTO A DUMP POSITION, A ROLLER ON ONE OF THE MEMBERS, A CAM SURFACE ON THE OTHER MEMBER, THE CAM SURFACE AND ROLLER FORCING TRANSLATIONAL MOVEMENT OF THE PIVOT IN THE FINAL CLOSING ACTION FOR THE DOOR MEMBER WHEREBY THE DOOR IS MOVED BODILY AGAINST THE BODY MEMBER AS OPPOSED TO PURELY ROTATIONALY CLOSURE OF THE DOOR MEMBER. 